The OpenFog Consortium has made its debut as an ecosystem of industry and academic leaders to foster an open architecture for fog computing in the Internet of Things (IoT). This is an important milestone that will accelerate IoT deployments and maximize their value across a wide range of industries.

My friend and colleague, Helter Antunes, has been a pivotal force in forming the OpenFog Consortium and has worked tirelessly with other founding members to iron out the myriad of details involved in creating this sort of multi-party organization. He has also been instrumental in developing Cisco's own fog computing strategy. That is why I am particularly pleased to congratulate him on being named the OpenFog Consortium's first chairman, who will guide the group through its formative stages.

Fog computing is a key enabler of the Internet of Things, providing the capability to derive real-time insights from the vast amounts of data generated by "things"-sensors, cameras, regulators, and other devices-at the edge of the network. Just as cloud technology has been an enabler of the Internet, fog will drive an array of new IoT use cases in every area of life and industry-from retail to healthcare to oil and gas production.

As IoT deployments grow, it is becoming increasingly important that they are interoperable. For example, when a smart roadway infrastructure is able to communicate instantaneously with today's smart vehicles, they can not only improve traffic management, but also improve traffic safety and reduce vehicle emissions. To accomplish this, IoT requires a single fog computing framework that insures both real-time processing and interoperability between systems. This is what the OpenFog Consortium is working to accomplish.

Helder is particularly well suited to lead this effort. He is a member of Cisco's Chief Strategy office, where he has demonstrated his skill in aligning technology developments with major strategic initiatives. As a leader, he has earned a reputation for exceeding expected results through relentless and methodical execution, and has built exceptional teams to identify solutions for complex challenges.

Stay tuned for more exciting news from this newly formed consortium in the coming weeks.